Experiences of living near asylum seeker accommodation in your area

[Sugarcookie3]

I live very near to one of the proposed asylum camps.
Obviously there's lots of opinions in the media,..
Different sides have their own agenda
I just wanted to hear from people who live near a lot of alysum seekers in their local community..
Has it really been as bad as the media make out ?
Has it effected your house prices,or changed how you live or where you go ?
Did the extra people in your town have much of an impact in any way .
Also ,are they processed quite quickly, or does it seem like it's the same faces each day ..what about protests ..has that effected traffic in the area .??
Thanks in advance if you take the time to reply

Big groups of men hanging around not doing much. Always leave lots of rubbish around. Haven't seen any violence but it's intimidating. It's certainly changed the feel of the area. Early days.

Are the council getting on top of the rubbish..
What local council have you got @Notmycircusnotmyotter

Did local people try to stop it @Notmycircusnotmyotter

Anyone else living near

Read this: https://www.opendemocracy.net/labour-andy-burnham-immigration-asylum-bill-insecurity-integration-shabana-mahmood/

Yes, me. There are two asylum hotels on my doorstep, a stone's throw from DC's primary school (I wasn't even aware that one of them WAS an asylum hotel until I helped out occasionally with a church group providing meaningful activities for them as otherwise they've got nothing to do). At least one more a little further away.

No problems at all from the hotels. Those I've had interactions with have mostly been keen to practice their English and quite shy.

Hasn't changed how I live or where I go in the least. No impact I can see on house prices. No protests (there was a short-lived furore on a FB group but then it turned out the hotel they were moaning about was actually a hotel and the group of drunk men loitering outside part of a big party).

There may well have been some impact on services. DC's school now has a few more children who come in at random stages of the year with no English (though they integrate very quickly). I'm sure there is strain on local medical services especially MH services, but I've not noticed a difference in terms of (eg) getting a doctor's appointment.

A local town has a camp that’s been opened. The people involved have not been a problem at all but unfortunately the local thugs have been very intimidating.
Threatening businesses that serve the asylum seekers and generally bringing down the reputation of the town !
Ironically it’s these bigots that are causing house prices to fall not the asylum seekers!

I live near both student accommodation that is let to tourists/language schools in the summer and asylum seeker accommodation. Neither are wildly bothersome, but the students have probably caused more minor issues locally.

Live close to a hotel in a big city, it had been tired for a while but it took me ages to realise that it was now housing asylum seekers (once I looked into it, I found out it had been going on for a while). Partly flew under my radar because it’s a busy and diverse area anyway, but also because they mostly seem to keep to themselves. Had one lovely interaction during which a man helped me pick up groceries that had fallen out of my bag and we had a brief chat afterwards.

Where I used to live now has one but I didn't realise for ages when I visited and didn't hear anything negative from people still living there. I don't think they were aware either
I suspect that the residents are warned not to talk to the public in some cases? I saw (not on purpose it popped up on shorts) some auditor type trying to talk to an adult male asylum seeker and the Auditor was saying "they've been told not to talk to the public". I think the insinuation was this was a sign there was a conspiracy going on, but it seems more likely they were told to keep to themselves to avoid exacerbating tensions. Which is sad in a way, but also I can understand the thinking.

I've not lived near one for awhile but it was horrendous, the constant sexual assaults/ verbal abuse and violence made me terrified. They hang around in groups and just leer. My friend shouted something back in Arabic when they made crude remarks to her and she was chased.

They target people who are alone- to the women they ask if you was to go jiggy jiggy and lone men are at risk of violence.

Im sure they aren't all like that but thats my previous experience and I moved away as it was becoming a no go area.

What@movingmovingmovingishsaid. No trouble locally from residents of the camp .Local people got rather anxious at the idea of the asylum seekers being housed locally while their claims are being assessed but the main impacts on the town have been the erection of flags , the disruption of traffic and some awful rhetoric and thuggish behaviour by a small number of locals and rent a mob types coming to join in the protests.

Read this: https://www.opendemocracy.net/labour-andy-burnham-immigration-asylum-bill-insecurity-integration-shabana-mahmood/

Thankyou for replying
That's really positive
I'm feeling quite anxious..but wanting everything to be ok

Sorry to hear that

We haven't had any of that yet
I guess locals are anxious
I admit I am myself
But it's good to hear other people are not having issues

To be fair, there are local asylum seekers living in our local hotel. Lots of young men and a few young families. You sometimes see them going to the shops or in the local park playing football. Some are delivery drivers.

To be fair, as far as I know none have caused any issues.

My French friend when she returns to her home town Calais, her mum warns her off going near Sangatte. Says it’s dangerous. But that’s closed now I think.

Similar to @dontlookatmeethere was a hotel near me for a while before I actually even realised. I assumed the hotel had closed because the car park was closed off with barriers. I had no problems, and I didn’t hear about any problems locally. Also never saw any protesters outside, or anyone complaining about it on fb. I think it wasn’t really known about that much - not that it was hidden, the info was easily available when I googled trying to find out if the hotel was going to reopen, just that I don’t think people really noticed or paid attention.

Same here. I never knew what the building was until someone told me. No issues.

Oh I just remembered, ages ago (probably about the time that they started using hotels?) I was staying at a budget hotel that was also housing migrants at the same time. I didn't know at all until I heard from the security guard they had "guarding the corridor"(sitting on a chair looking bored). I think it was mostly women though, at least I only saw women going quickly from one room to the other. Absolutely no bother at all though to the extent I only just remembered it now.

My local town is hosting a good few of the Afghan translators.
Most keep themselves to themselves, however, I personally have had a very bad experience with one man who took complete offense to me daring to walk in a park in a dress with my dog, and started harassing me, calling me a dog and asking if I wanted to be fucked.
He was with his wife and children. She looked terrified and the little boys sat there in silence.
It wasn't reported because who would I report it to?!

Booked weddings were cancelled, but that was two years ago. Major effect on the families concerned.

Groups of men sitting down drinking and eating in parks, garden, and parking spaces, some rubbish left behind.

Two young men rushing out of the supermarket with cheap packs of chicken piled high in their arms, like every day is a lottery. Smiling and happy, was a bit of fun to see.

Polite lady who returned a smile - very rare as they never smile.

Young man traversing righthand of a rounabout then joining a dual carriageway at 20mph and smiling when people had no choice to undertake him. Unlikely he passed a UK dirivng test. Looked 13.

Planning consent rubber stamped to expand a hotel over parkland, chop trees down etc so the owners can bill taxpayers another £9m over the next three years - really hope the 'asylum seekers' are getting room service for that and not quadruple profits being sent to an account in BVI.

Police vans outside a garage on a ring road, to remove 'asylum seekers' (Africans and likely illegal) from a forced labour camp set up inside containers. Possibly owned and run by illegal migrants from the Indian subcontinent based on information available from government sources.

Possibly main confusion for local people is what description to use - asylum seeker, illegal immigrant, trafficked person, and the rest.

Honestly, I would report it to the police in that case. It's verbal harassment which isn't OK and probably falls under a public order offence. I'm not against giving the translators and their families shelter (especially since the UK government put them at risk by that email leak) but if you wouldn't accept it from, eg, a British builder you shouldn't accept it from someone else. Also probably helpful to the wife and child to be checked on.

Not saying that you are in the wrong for not reporting it. But I definitely think the police would be a proportionate response to someone shouting at you in the street like that. If they (or just one person) are causing problems then the sooner it's reported the sooner the person can be identified and the problem addressed.

A hotel down the road from us (max a 10 min walk) has been asylum seeker accommodation for some time now. TBH we haven’t noticed any trouble or ill effects.

Thanks for all the replies
Mainly positive.but as with anything there's always a few who spoil it for the rest